Merrill E. Chandler portrait   Save
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections
Description: The east annex of the Ohio Penitentiary, where death row and the execution chamber were located, displayed photographs of hundreds of prisoners who were condemned to death throughout the state’s history. This portrait of 22-year-old Merrill Chandler is one of them. Chandler, one of twelve prisoners who attempted to escape the Ohio State Reformatory in 1932, was convicted for fatally beating Correctional Officer Frank Hanger with an iron bar during the event. The caption at the bottom of the photograph reads: “No. 178, Merrill E. Chandler of Richland County, electrocuted November 24, 1933, for the Murder of Guard Frank D. Hanger.” Altogether there were 315 people who were electrocuted in the state of Ohio between 1897 and 1963. Merrill Chandler was the 178th prisoner to be executed in this manner. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08237
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Capital punishment--Ohio--History; Electrocution; Death row; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Ohio State Reformatory (Mansfield, Ohio)
Places: Richland County (Ohio); Mansfield (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Columbus (Ohio)